Darkness Before
by Michi Shojo
Summary: Growing up in the sand village, Kurayami decided that one day she wanted to be a powerful ninja, maybe even the leader of her own village. But when her friends choose their own paths, she is forced to decide where her loyalties lie. And that can be difficult when lives hang in the balance... throw in a curse and a desire for blood, her story begins...
1. Birth

/Note: This has not started as my story. A while back I read this fanfiction on a different account and began talking to the author. She liked the story she wrote, but had trouble finding time to write it. She removed the story after a while because she got bored of it, and I recently got back in touch and asked if I could use it and finish it. She agreed and sent me the storyline. So I will be continuing her story and editing it a little, but keeping the main ideas. Whilst I prefer to write in first person, she wrote in third person so I will try and keep to that with the story. If she ever wants it back, then I will delete it. Thank you. /

Kurayami Mae

(Birth)

It was a warm winters evening at the smoke village, the reason it was warm was because the ground beneath the village was heated by internal forces. And they prevented the snow from settling on the ground. Keeping the village warm and allowing them to grow crops all year round. It was called the smoke village because of the large volcano on the border, it never erupted, but spewed out thick black smoke. The volcano wasn't too dangerous, and it made the soil around fertile, so the crops grown there were some of the best on trade. The smoke village was on the border of the land of wind. And the nearest village they knew about was the sand village, But even that was too far away for most of the villagers to get to. There were no Ninja in the smoke village either. The clan that lived there, The Mae clan, was small and unnoticed by other villages. Thier village was too small, with not enough people, to start a Ninja academy. Occasionally, a family would move out and the child would learn Ninja skills at another village, and return to the smoke village later, perhaps to train other children, or simply live back where they had come from. But such occurrences were rare.

The Mae clan also had another belief. They thought that when a child was born into the clan, they were insignificant and had to work their way up. They were strict in their beliefs and elders and the stronger or more important people were respected. The young people were expected to serve the older people. And the strong were not to help the weak and communicate with them as little as possible. Maybe it was a harsh way to treat people, but it taught them how to care for themselves and strengthened their mind and bodies.

This one evening, something was happening. A child had been born in the moments where the full moon had just been chased away by the rising sun, The baby girl was named Kurayami Mae, meaning "Darkness Before" and she was at that moment, the most unimportant child in the village. But that wasn't going to be for long... A short while later, crashing sounds and a muffled cry could be heard from the house. It sounded as if there was an animal inside, crashing round. But most of the village was asleep, so they didn't hear it. Then the child's mum came out of the house, looking around to make sure she wasn't being watched, then she made a hand sign and a large wolf appeared. It had a dark grey shaggy coat that seemed to glow under the moonlight and its eyes were bright yellow. She seemed to say something to the wolf, and then it disappeared inside the house, then walked out moments later, dragging the body of a man, the girl's father. The body was cut and bloody, fresh blood splashed around his body. But no blood flowed from the wounds, blood doesn't flow from corpses. The wolf paused to lick a little off, and then set itself on dragging the man's corpse out of the village, deep into mountains that rose around the village. The woman didn't seem happy but she didn't seem sad either, just…empty. Then she heard her baby girl cry, so she walked in to get her. And screamed in horror and shock.

"NO!" she screamed. "It wasn't supposed to happen! I thought it would disappear!" "No no no!" the tortured cries echoed through the village and roused several people. Rushing outside, they saw the door to the house where the screams were coming from. The door was wide open, and when they ran in, all they could see were paw-prints in blood, claw marks and the shaking mother. Clutching her baby girl to her chest, the girl was splashed in the crimson blood of her father. And there was the faintest smear of blood around her lips...

"What happened, Yuki?" Screamed the first neighbour, addressing Kurayami's mother by her name. "Yuki?" he asked, when he got no reply.

"I-it was... Wolves!" Said Yuki, tears pouring down her cheeks. "I tried to stop them, But they killed him... Dragged him away."

"Did they hurt you or your child?" he inquired.

"N-no. I grabbed Kurayami and protected her as best I could." Sobbed Yuki

Another neighbour burst in. "There's wolf tracks outside! Maybe we can find your husband!"

"That's a good idea! He may not be dead yet!" cried the other neighbour, doing little to calm Yuki down. The other people then ran out, to track down the wolf and hopefully kill it, and rescue the poor man, dead or alive.

Yuki was left alone in the house with Kurayami. She stopped crying and sighed deeply, a look of total misery in her eyes. "Well, Little one" she said, picking up a cloth, soaking it with water and dabbing away the blood on her daughter, gazing into her innocent Blue-Grey eyes. "That was a close one, wasn't it?" Young Kurayami only gurgled in response and grabbed the bloodied cloth as it came near her face. Putting it to her lips, she sucked at the metallic blood. And Yuki swore her child's eyes had changed from blue, to a deep red.

"I guess this means you're more like you're father than me now. And it'll have to be my secret." She took the cloth away from her Child, cleaned it, and then returned to washing away the blood. As expected, it took a few days to find his body. And when they did, it was badly chewed up by wolves and other creatures. The wolf wasn't ever found and the body was carried back to Yuki, where she cremated it and scattered the ashes around the village. And then she returned to her house, cleaning it up and erasing all traces of what had happened. She then spent the next few years of her life raising her daughter, Kurayami. And her daughter's biggest wish, to become a Ninja, become powerful, and be remembered. That was all she wanted. In a way, her wish was granted. This is the story of Kurayami Mae.


	2. Home

Going Away...

(6 years old)

Kurayami crouched underneath a bush, Hiding. Her breath rattled in her throat and came out in short, sharp gasps. She stayed back, hoping the bush would be enough to conceal her. But she saw her enemy run by, close enough to see her if she just looked a little to the left. She felt her heartbeat quicken until the other girl stopped. And turned, slowly, to where she was hidden. A grin crossed the other girls face and she exclaimed "Found you, Yami!" Kurayami screamed and leapt up,

"Dammit!" she cried, and then shrugged "Ah well." with that, she picked up a thick tree branch to use as a makeshift weapon and swung it at the side of the others head. "Take that! Arisa." Yelled Kurayami.

"Hey, no fair! I haven't got a weapon yet!" Moaned Arisa. Then before she got a reply, Arisa turned tail and fled through the smoke village. Dodging between carts loaded with crops from the fields.

"Wait up!" Said Kurayami, Chasing after her. She ran through the streets, weaving around the bustle of people heading towards the market to sell thier numerous produce. She was well known throughout the village so the calls of

"Morning Kura"

"Hello there Yami"

"Whoa, watch where you're going Mae." followed her.

"Hey! Yami!" Came the sound of one, She turned and saw Tolkien, a traveller that sometimes returned to his home in the smoke village to sell rare or interesting stuff he had collected in other lands. His skin was a dark colour and his eyes were the deepest brown she'd ever see and his jet black hair was short. He was holding something out to her, "Catch!" He yelled and threw something toward her. Kurayami reached out and neatly caught the object in her free hand; it was a bar of chocolate. A delicacy that couldn't be made much in the village. Her face lit up and she yelled back,

"Thanks Toki!" Toki was her name for him, since she couldn't pronounce Tolkien when she was younger. And in turn he called her 'Yami' instead of 'Kurayami'. Thinking about it, Kurayami had many names. 'Yami' Was what most of the farmers had taken to calling her. Her mother favoured the name 'Kura' and she heard the name 'Mae' Being called every time she had caused an upset but was past too quickly for people to identify her, since Mae was the last name for everyone in the village. But she didn't mind what she was called, so had learned to respond to any name she might be called.

Anyway, She pushed the chocolate into an inside pocket of her jacket and carried on chasing Arisa through the streets. It was the latest game of Ninja that the girls would play together. Of course the chances of them actually becoming ninja were slim, but they would try anyway, even without a proper academy to train in. She clutched the branch in her hands and followed Arisa into a dead end.

"Ha! got you now!" she smirked. Arisa bent double, taking deep breaths, her face flushed a deep red from all the running.

"one...one min." She gasped "get...breath... back"

Kurayami laughed and poked Arisa's chest with the stick, "Tired are we? need a rest?"

"no!" shrieked Arisa, straitening up and slamming a wooden pole, which she must have picked up somewhere, Into Kurayami's chin. A small trickle of blood rolled from Kurayami's mouth, she lifted up her hand and wiped the blood away, staring at the crimson smear on her hand.

"You always fall for that." Said Arisa.

Kurayami raised an eyebrow "It doesn't matter, you still won't win!" The pair laughed and fought on. Receiving several more bruises and cuts each, before limping back home.

Kurayami walked through the front door of her house and immediately her mother, Yuki, swept in

"Kura! What've you been doing?! You're hurt!"

"Mum, it's ok. I was only playing Ninja with Arisa again." Explained Kurayami

"How many times have I told you to be careful?"

Kurayami frowned, It was always like this. She would get hurt then her mum would fret for hours on end and not let her leave the house again until she was all healed up. Then her mother gently took her arm and led her into the kitchen, sitting Kurayami in a chair, she took a cloth and cleaned her cuts. Luckily Kurayami was a very fast healer and these cuts and bruises would probably disappear overnight. Which was more than could be said for Arisa, But Arisa could tough it out.

"Thirsty Kura?" Her mother asked.

Kurayami nodded, she was always thirsty after a fight. Her mother turned and took a flask from a shelf, placing it on the worktop, then she got a cup and filled it mostly with water, then picked up the flask. She twisted the top off and poured a little of its contents into the water. It was a deep red colour and smelt funny, but thinned out and turned the water pale red once it touched it. With the now full glass, Yuki turned back and gave it to Kurayami.

"Thanks." she said, taking a sip. The drink was just water with a little flavour, and did little to wash the taste of blood out of her mouth. But it was nice all the same, and seemed to calm her down. Her mother watched her finish the glass, then took it to the sink and washed it up once Kurayami was finished with it.

"So Kura." her mother said, staring out of the window above the sink. "You still want to become a Ninja?"

"Oh yeah! It's all I want!" said Kurayami, actually, that was only a part of it. It was Kurayami's dream to become so strong a ninja she could train the people of the village, and become the first Kemurikage, or smoke shadow. That way the little smoke village could grow and become just as big as the five great nations. Yuki nodded,

"I thought as much, so... Kura, do you want to go to the sand village? To live there for a little while and train to become a real Ninja?"

Kurayami's mouth dropped open "yes! yes!" She squealed "More than anything!"

Her mother smiled faintly, then turned to her daughter. Staring straight into her eyes, they had been red when her daughter had walked in, But had returned to thier normal Blue-Grey now.

"Ok then Kura, as you wish. Go now and pack your stuff, we will leave tonight."

"Great!" Then she turned and bounded upstairs to her room. To pack the few clothes, books, toys and other stuff she was going to take with her.

That night, Kurayami was led out of the village by her mother, under the cover of darkness they left across the desert towards the sand village. They crossed the sands of the desert and Kurayami couldn't help but to be exited, she was so glad to be leaving that she didn't question why it had to be at night. And she didn't notice how her mother was hardly speaking and even seemed afraid of something. She was too young, innocent and too naïve to see. Little did Kurayami know she wasn't going to see the tiny Smoke Village for a while yet. And when she returned, it might not be for such an innocent reason as a simple visit.


	3. The Sand Village

The Sand Village

(12 years old)

Kurayami frowned and stared down at the paper in front of her. Shaking her head, she raised her pen and put several thick black lines of ink through what she had just written. It was the final part of the numerous exams needed to pass and become a Ninja. Kurayami was happy about that, she knew she wasn't very clever, but she had strengths in other areas and she believed so long as she got at least half of this test, the marks everywhere else would be enough for her to pass. She took a deep breath and focused on the next question.

'The three skills a Ninja must make use of are...?' She smiled, that was easy enough, she then wrote,

'1. Ninjutsu, 2. Genjutsu, 3. Taijutsu' at least some of the questions were easy enough...

Little over an hour later, the test was over and Kurayami received her headband, with the symbol of the sand village etched into the metal surface. She grinned, and wondered where to wear it. Most of the students tied it to thier foreheads or arms, but she didn't want to do that. Then she had a great idea, she lifted her hands and untied the simple, black tie she wore on her shirt, pulling it away, she tied her headband around her neck, folding the collar of her pale grey shirt over it. Only a small part of metal was visible when she had finished, the part with the sand symbol on it. She leaned back in her chair, she only had to be put in a team with two others now, and meet her trainer tomorrow, and she would officially be a Genin.

"Squad three! Kurayami Mae, Satoshi Honda and Takeada Sohma!" called the academy teacher.

Kurayami turned and looked for her teammates... There was Satoshi, he wore a pale cotton shirt the colour of sand, and long brown trousers. He had short, curly hair that shone blonde and bright blue eyes. He wasn't too clever, and not the best fighter, but he was an excellent medical Ninja, he took extra lessons every week just to learn healing jutsu. He noticed Kurayami looking at him and smiled, he was one of the few people Kurayami liked, and while they didn't have much to do with each other outside of the academy, at school they often worked together in pairs and ate lunch together, so she guessed they could be called good friends.

Kurayami smiled back and then averted her gaze, looking for Takeada, she noticed him at the back of the classroom. He wore Black trousers and a black shirt, and a long dark blue coat that reached down past his knees. He had long hair that looked black, but under a light it shone midnight blue, it was bound back in a simple low ponytail, He had Dark grey eyes the colour of ash. He was the cleverest in the class, having scored the highest on the written test, but he was an average fighter. He had the gift of words and would rather talk his way out of a predicament than fight his way out. He spoke only when he needed to and Kurayami didn't know what to think of him, she often saw him staring at her from a distance though she didn't know why, maybe jealousy? She was, after all, the best fighter in the class and scared of nothing (That she knew of) whereas he was average at fighting and far from the bravest. In a way, they were opposites, She was everything he wasn't.

He saw Kurayami staring at him and held her gaze, Kurayami wanted to but she could not look away, she didn't want to seem intimidated by him. It would make her look weak. The two held each other's gazes for what seemed an age, then he turned his head and stood up, walking out of the classroom. Kurayami sighed with relief, then tied her tie round her wrist, meaning to throw it out as soon as she got home, and to give her time for Takeada to walk out and go on ahead. Then she got up and walked through the corridors, on her way out.

"Kura!" Came a shout from behind her, she stopped and someone ran into her from behind. She was knocked forward and landed on her front, the other person fell and landed on top of her. "oh, god! sorry!" It was Satoshi's voice,

"I-It's ok." Said Kurayami, blushing slightly. "Just get off me, alright?"

"Oh, of course." Stammered Satoshi, She felt him pick himself up and a large weight lifted from her. She then pulled herself up and dusted herself down.

"So Satoshi, what did you want to say so badly you had to charge full speed into me?"

He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head with a hand.

"I just wanted to say... I'm happy we're teammates, and I hope we work well together, even with Takeada on our team"

Kurayami found herself smiling. "He's not that bad... but yeah. It's nice to have a friend on my team."

He grinned. "I have to go now, see you tomorrow Kura!" Then he turned and ran off.

Kurayami smiled

_When did he start calling me Kura?_

she thought to herself, then walked out of the building and went home. She entered her empty flat and sat alone on her bed. She lived alone in a flat, since her mother wasn't around and no one else had come forward to look after her. She had been led into the village by her mother one night, and sat down outside of the Kazekages building. Then her mother had given her a letter, and said if anyone found her then she should give them the letter. Then she said she had something to do, so she had walked away but never came back. Young Kurayami had been found a while later by a passing Ninja who had taken the letter. Reading it, a look of fear crossed his had crossed his face and he regarded her with slight caution. Then he had simply shrugged and carried her into the Kazekage's building. Then the letter had been examined by the fourth Kazekage himself and other important people of sorts.

And she was taken to this flat, she had lived alone then with frequent visits to make sure she could live ok by herself. Now she had occasional visits to make sure she could look after herself, and she could so she was mostly ignored and left alone nowadays.

She got up and poured herself a drink, it reminded her of when she used to get home in the smoke village and her mother would always make the same drink with water and that dark red liquid. She had tried many things to recreate that taste, but her mother never told her what it was in that drink and she had never succeeded in making it. So she just drank juices now, and they were poor substitutes. With a glass of Orange juice in hand, she walked out onto the balcony and sat down in her chair, the good thing about her flat was that it was on the top floor and had a brilliant view of the village below her, spread out like a map beneath her.

She sipped the drink and lay back in the warm sun, when she heard faint screams from below her. Placing the glass on a small table next to her, she stood up and leaned on the railing of the balcony, looking for the source of the noise.

Then she saw it, At the park a few streets away, there was a boy. And he had a large amount of sand coming from behind him in vast waves, it circled other children at the park, and they were the ones screaming. Fear and hate mingled in thier screams as they fled from this one boy, but Kurayami was intrigued. So she leapt up onto the railing, took a deep breath and stepped off, falling to the ground below. She knew it was stupid, she could be hurt, but she loved the thrill of falling so often left the flat in this fashion. She landed on a small patch of grass which softened her fall slightly and prevented any injuries. She was a fast healer anyway. Then she took off in the direction of the park, and the screams...

Upon arriving there, she saw the sand circling the boy, and the boy was standing there. Tears flowing from his wide eyes and in one hand he clutched a small teddy bear, and his other hand was reaching out for something... probably the children who had run off, and left him there alone.


	4. Gaara

Gaara

(12 years old)

Kurayami stared at the boy in front of her. He had short spiky hair that was a red colour; his eyes were ringed with thick black lines that kind of made him look like a raccoon. And he also had the Kanji for 'Love' on the left side of his forehead. He was dressed in simple clothing and held a teddy bear in one hand. He looked to be a year or two younger than Kurayami, ten or so years old.

"Hello? Are you ok?" Asked Kurayami. The boy looked up at her and she saw his eyes properly, they were a pale ice blue colour. He just looked at her through his tears and didn't reply. "What's your name?" She tried again. This time the boy responded

"My name's Gaara..." he said, his voice filled with a sadness, and an echo of true loneliness that she had never heard before. Kurayami thought the name seemed familiar,

_Gaara, where have I heard that before…?_

Shrugging, she asked "Well Gaara, My name is Kurayami Mae. But feel free to call me whatever feels right to you. So... Can you tell me what that was all about? With the other children just now?" Gaara paused, and didn't say anything for a few seconds. then...

"They all think I'm a monster. I have no friends. But I try to play with them, and they get scared... They run off. And my sand reaches for them, but it scares them more. It always ends up with them running off. And me alone. Again."

Kurayami thought about that. She had been raised in the smoke village with the tradition of serving the people stronger than her and ignoring the weak. So this child, younger than her and seemingly pathetic, she should just have ignored him. He was weak. But another part of her reasoned, was he weak? he had made the other children run off screaming and that sand of his... That could easily be used to harm, or even kill, anyone if he wanted it to. When he got older a power like that could be enough to even get him to a standing as high as Kazekage or something. But anyway, she decided to protect this boy, he would become the one she chose to listen to. He would become her master in a way, unless he proved to be weaker than she believed, then she would cast him aside.

"Well Gaara" She smiled "How about you become my friend?" His pale eyes widened and he stammered

"R-really, you.. You mean th- that?"

"Of course I do, Gaara-Kun."

He then smiled, and his seemingly sad face lit up.

"Thanks Yami"

"It's alright." then the clock tower struck 07:00 o' clock

"Oh no!" Gaara exclaimed "I was supposed to be home by now!"

"Then run Gaara! Go!" Kurayami said "Hurry"

"Goodbye" Gaara said, the farewell swept away by the wind. And then he ran off, through the village.

"Bye Gaara!" She called after him, then turned and left the park. As soon as she walked out of the gate she saw Takeada, walking past. He had a calm look on his face, or maybe calm was the wrong word… He looked like he couldn't care less about something. He caught her eye,

"Oh Takeada, hey" She said.

Takeada ignored her greeting "What were you doing with the Kazekage's son?" he said bluntly.

_Of course! he's the Kazekage's son. That's where I heard his name before!_

"I was talking to him, he seemed a little lonely." she answered clearly.

Takeada muttered "Of course, lonely." Then without warning he walked right up to her, leaning over slightly so his face was close to hers, just inches away. He moved his face so his mouth was right next to his ear.

"Just watch it with that boy, he's a monster. Killed his own mother and several others. Wouldn't want your pretty little face getting messed up because of him" He whispered, his voice adopted a dead tone and his words tickling her ear. She shivered and pulled back,

"I don't believe he's a monster. What makes you say he is?" Takeada straightened up and looked straight into her eyes.

"I'm the smartest kid in the village, I have my reasons."

"You don't know everything." She said, a little huffily.

"No, But I know a lot more than you think, Kurayami Mae. I know you're from the Smoke village, sometimes known as the village of servants because of your traditions." He Smirked "Oh I get it now; you're choosing to call him your _Master _because you think he's strong. I'm telling you now, the strength comes from the monster he is."

Kurayami looked at him; there was no denying he was clever, he had figured most of it out. But he couldn't know for sure what Gaara was, so she simply repeated

"You don't know everything." Then she turned, not waiting for an answer, and walked away. Back to her apartment. Arriving there, she quickly walked back out onto her balcony. Sitting in the chair as she had earlier, and gazed up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set and streaked the sky with bright streaks of orange and yellow, with a splash of pink and red here and there. She found it beautiful, and was glad for the top floor of her apartment, since it allowed her to see over most of the buildings outside. But she couldn't see over the huge wall that surrounded the village. She hadn't been out of this place for years, and it was beginning to suffocate her. At least soon she could start some missions and get out rather than stay cooped up in the village. Smiling, she stood up and walked inside, Grabbing a pot of instant ramen and pouring boiling water into it. After a few minutes of waiting impatiently, it was ready and she grabbed some chopsticks and sat down at the dining table, It was big enough for four people but she was always eating here alone. The large table just reminded her of how alone she was. But ah well... She finished her ramen and tossed he cup in the bin. Then she changed into a grey vest top and black shorts, and climbed into her double bed. She closed her eyes, but sleep did not take her right away. She was kept awake by thoughts of the smoke village, Gaara, Takeada and missions she would soon have to complete. Some bad things, some good things. She sighed to herself and later, her train of thought broke and she fell asleep.


	5. Squad Leader

The Squad Leader

(12 Years old)

As Kurayami slept her dreams were filled with fear, she saw Gaara, he was standing with his back to her. His sand swirling aggressively behind and around him. "Gaara?" She found herself saying. And to her surprise, her voice sounded scared, like a trapped wild animal. He turned and she knew something was wrong. His normally pale blue eyes were a piercing red and seemed to cut directly into her. She stepped back, unsure of what was going on, when Gaara yelled,

"You don't understand! I hate you Yami-Chan!"

_Yami-Chan, when did he ever call me that?_

But that was the least of her worries, Gaara reached out a hand to her and the sand flew towards her, in a menacing cloud.

"Gaa-Kun! Don't!" She screamed, and her voice was filled with desperation.

Then the sand was on her, wrapping round her body instantly and stopping her from moving. It seemed to squeeze her and scraped her body raw. And then it parted and formed one large snake-like shape, That pushed her in the stomach and sent her soaring back. Her flight was cut short by something solid and she blacked out.

When she regained conciseness, She was standing in nothingness. It was just black everywhere, no floor, walls or sky. Just a consuming darkness. She spun round looking for something, anything besides herself that wasn't darkness, but she saw nothing. Then a thud from behind her, she turned and there, in the distance, was a rectangular silver shape. She headed towards it, and as she got closer she saw it was a mirror. Now she was stood right in front of it, looking into it she froze in shock. Her eyes were like Gaara's had been, a deep red and looked like they might have belonged to an animal, a wolf or a fox. And she opened her mouth to scream, and she saw long canines protruding from her mouth. She really did scream then, but it came out as a garbled animalistic howl. And as she stopped, it died down to a whimper.

"What is this?" she whispered, her voice sounded tortured and simply saying the words were an effort. She looked down at her hand, her nails had grown and her fingers were curling inwards. "No… no" she said quietly. In that haunted voice. Then she yelled "NO." But the 'O' from the 'NO' Carried and became a wolf-like howl. She looked back towards the mirror, nothing had changed, and she looked like a beast still. Then she simply raised a fist and smashed the mirror, a crack spider webbed across the glass and blood flowed from her fist. But then the glass shattered and she was flung into an impenetrable darkness.

Kurayami's eyes snapped open and she sat upright in her bed, taking deep gasping breaths. Sunlight filtered through her window and fell onto her bed in warm streaks. She looked around and her surroundings swam into focus, the fear ebbing away. She swung her legs to the side of the bed and stood up, when she heard a beeping. It was her alarm clock. She picked it up and read the time 09:00 she stared at the time for a few dumb seconds then...

"Oh god! I gotta get out and meet the trainer today at half nine!" That gave her half an hour to get ready and run down to the academy. She quickly ran through the apartment, pulling her clothes on, brushing her hair, and grabbing her weapons and hiding them. A knife in her boot and a Kunai strapped to the top of her leg, underneath her skirt. Then she grabbed her headband from its place on her shelf and tossed that on. As she briskly trotted out she walked past a mirror, she stared into it and breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes were a normal Blue-Grey, Her teeth were all normal. No traces of what she had seen in her dream. Smiling weakly, she ran out and down the stairs, towards the academy.

A few minutes later, she came charging in, red faced and out of breath. She slowed down outside of the classroom and then walked in. Takeada and Satoshi were already there, sitting on a desk for three people, one on each end and a gap in the middle. They obviously hadn't been talking to each other, Takeada was staring out of a window and Satoshi was reading a book. Kurayami panted and sat down between them.

"Heya Kura." Said Satoshi, breaking the uneasy silence, "What took you so long?" She paused, not knowing whether to say anything about her dreams or not, but quickly decided against it,

"Oh nothing really, I didn't sleep well last night and then overslept this morning."

"Well our trainer isn't here yet, so it doesn't really matter one way or another."

She nodded in agreement "Yeah."

Satoshi went back to reading his book and Kurayami looked over at Takeada, He caught her gaze and tilted his head slightly, raising an eyebrow. As if daring her to say something.

She decided it wasn't worth it and flicked her gaze away, to the front of the class. She saw Takeada stare out of the window again from the corner of her eye, and the three of them sat there. They stayed in that silence for an hour, awkwardly waiting for thier senpai to show up, but no one came. When there suddenly was a large crash from behind them, they all turned around and heard a bang, then saw a large plume of smoke rise up. They coughed on the smoke and a woman walked out from behind it, grinning senselessly

"Alright you-!" She started, then focused on them. "Oops, wrong room." She said.

"What the hell was that?" Said Takeada.

"I wanted to make an entrance! Just to my squad instead of you guys, like I said, I got the wrong room..."

They stared at the women with open mouths and eyes full of disbelief. Before anyone could reply, The wisps of smoke rose up to the fire alarm and set it off. The alarm wailed and suddenly the overhead sprinklers turned on full blast. Soaking everyone and everything in the building.

"Oh for god's sake!" Cried Kurayami, getting covered in water.

"Oops, guess I overdid it on the smoke bombs. Right, everyone evacuate! Out of the building!" She started yelling, pointing towards the door in a motion to get everyone out. They trudged out, as well as the rest of the building, who were panicking there was a real fire. There were groans from the crowd, and once they were outside they grouped so they could grumble to each other.

"We're not sure what happened, everyone stay back." said a voice from the academy leader. The woman who had been with the three winced and walked up to him.

"Sorry sir, I kinda went overboard on the entry this year. Too many smoke bombs."

"oh for... " he looked annoyed at, but then just sighed, "Whatever, just get your squad and go." He said, waving a hand at Kurayami, Satoshi and Takeada.

"That's not my squad Sir, I made my grand entry into the wrong room." She was smiling stupidly now.

"Then go get your squad now and get out of my sight, before I stop you getting a squad at all." he warned.

"Yes Sir!" She yelled, and then ran into the crowd, to look for the right squad.

"Well" started Satoshi, "Let's hope that our Squad leader isn't completely stupid."

As the building was declared safe, A few squads went back inside but the majority left for training. Kurayami, Takeada and Satoshi were left standing outside. Not sure of what to do next. When a voice from behind them said "You're the fighter, puppeteer and medical Ninja I have to train?" It didn't sound like a question, more of a statement. The three turned as one and looked towards the source of the noise. It was a tall man, over six feet. With short black hair and green eyes, he wore the standard sand shinobi attire and wore his headband on the top of his left arm. He had a deep voice that carried no emotion, good or bad.

"Yeah, how did you guess?" Asked Satoshi.

"I was told about the squad I was going to train, best at your skills, for your age anyway. And all the other kids have met thier teachers already." he said, then ran his eye over them taking them in. Seeing what exactly he had to work with.

"So you seem to know about us, but who're you?" Said Takeada.

The man stared at him "I'm Akito. And also bear the title of senpai during your training. And your names are?"

"Satoshi, Akito senpai." Satoshi said, a little too quickly and obediently.

"I'm Kurayami Mae, Call me what you like." Kurayami said with a dismissive shrug.

Takeada paused a while, "Takeada." he finally said.

Akito nodded, committing thier names to memory. Then said

"Well come on then, we'll start your training now." Then he turned and walked away, through the streets of the sand village.

After a moment, Satoshi said. "I don't know whether to trust him, I think I'd prefer a stupid teacher. At least they're more predictable." Then he set off walking quickly after the giant. Kurayami looked at Takeada, "You coming?" she asked. He shrugged and walked after the two others, and Kurayami followed seconds later. Following the tall man to the training grounds just outside of the village. Her heart lifted when she realised where they were going, they were leaving the village. It might have only been for a short while, but for the first time in a while she was in a quiet place with only a few other people. She tilted her head back and caught the full force of the sun, it was unobstructed here and there were no buildings to block it out. She smiled to herself, she was happy in times like these.


	6. Training

Training

(12 years old)

Kurayami, Satoshi and Takeada all stood side by side in the training fields, facing thier senpai. The training fields were mostly sparse desert, but there was a small group of trees to hide in and a small stream that flowed out of the village and ended in a tiny lake, the stream was no more than a foot across and the lake was as wide as the average house. Akito broke the silence,

"Right guys. I know a little about your abilities and personalities from your teachers at the academy. But I want to find out if you really are as good as they say. So the first exercise is this." He held up two bells in one of his hands "You have to try and take these bells away from me, you have until..." He looked up at the setting sun. "You have until sunrise. If you can't get the bells then you'll be tied to those." He pointed with his other hand to three posts. "You can use any weapon or jutsu to get the bells. If you aren't ready to kill me then you won't get the bells... Any questions?"

Satoshi looked confused "But senpai, there are three of us but only two bells, We'd end up fighting amongst ourselves about didn't get a bell. But then they'd get tied to..." he nodded at the posts "…Those."

Akito looked amused at that, "Yes, I know. You'll have to do your best to get a bell then. And Your chances of getting one anyway are slim, Three Genin against a Jounin? You may all end up tied to the post."

"Oh." Satoshi sighed.

"Ok, everybody start when I say 'Start' You all ready?"

Takeada nodded, a determined look in his eyes. Kurayami prepared herself to run "Yeah" And Satoshi tightened his headband and pulled out a kunai. "I'm ready."

"Good, you may now... Start!" Akito barked, then his body turned to sand a moment later and collapsed.

"A sand clone!" Said Takeada. The three Genin looked at each other, and stood like that for a few seconds. Before Kurayami yelled

"Go!" and the three all ran off, they all ended up running for the cover of the trees, as they could hide there and attack without being seen. Kurayami instantly climbed a tree and hid in the branches, Takeada crouched in some bushes nearby, and Satoshi hid behind a tree trunk. They were silent, listening for Akito...There! A faint sound of bells ringing. From Kurayami's hiding spot she could see quite clearly through the branches at parts of the forest, and a good view of the desert. And Akito was walking out into the desert, seemingly unprotected and defenceless. Then, a couple of shuriken flew out of the forest, straight towards him. His body suddenly became a blur and the shuriken fell to the floor, Akito put the kunai back in his pocket, then stuck his hands in his pocket. Almost bored looking. Then there was a crashing from below her and Satoshi ran out of the woods

_Satoshi you idiot! Stay hidden and wait for an opening!_

she was screaming inside, but made no sound since she didn't want to give away her position. Satoshi ran out, kunai in hand. Akito watched him and raised an eyebrow

"Really?" He said. Satoshi yelled in response and jumped at Akito, swinging his kunai at him, Akito dodged all of his attacks then reached out and grabbed Satoshi by one arm and his head. Pushing him down into the dust and pinning him there. Satoshi struggled but couldn't get free, Akito wouldn't let him. He smiled, Satoshi was looking round desperately and yelled

"Help me! Kura! Help" Kurayami couldn't deny him; he was her friend after all. So she swung out of the tree and dropped to the ground, before she could run to his aid somebody grabbed her from behind and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"It's useless." He whispered, it was Takeada. "We just have to wait for when he drops his guard." Kurayami nodded and Takeada let go of her.

"Fine." She said. They both waited and watched Satoshi, suddenly Akito turned into sand again and fell to the desert below. Satoshi got up

"Another sand clone!"

"Where's the real one then?" Kurayami quietly asked herself. Then a whisper from behind answered her

"Right here." She whipped round and saw Akito. Takeada jumped and ran off and left her there to fight Akito herself and give him time to escape. And her instant reaction was her mouth opened and she screamed, but almost a second later her fighting instincts kicked in and she made a fist and brought it towards his head. Akito caught her fist in his hand but his arm was jolted back a little from the force of the punch. After all, she had superhuman strength that burst from somewhere within her body. Then, wasting no time, She raised a leg and kicked at the side of his body, he took the blow, and all it did was knock him to the side. But his grip on her fist loosened and she didn't pull her fist back, she simply pushed it past his hand and towards the bells. Reaching for one. But he was too quick. He simply said, "Very good." and then grabbed her by the wrist. Then stood up, picking her up as well and threw her forward. She hit the ground hard and stopped when she collided with a tree. Her head was pounding and she had several scrapes on her body, but nothing broken and nothing serious. But it winded her and she lay there, trying to get her breath back. And Akito disappeared. As soon as he had left, Satoshi quickly ran out of a bush and to her side, his palms glowing with pale green light.

"It's alright Kura." he said quietly, then pressed his hands against her scrapes. She felt a warmth flood through her and the scrapes healed up before her eyes, Hh was a medical ninja after all...

"Thanks." she breathed, once he had finished. He blushed a little and looked away

"No problem."

She stood up and said to him, "Why don't we work together to get the bells? Forget Takeada, there's only two bells"

He grinned, "Sounds like a plan. Let's do it."

They both hid up in a tree, sitting on a branch together and peering out onto the land below, looking for Akito. The sun had set and the stars were just beginning to glitter in the twilight world. Kurayami smiled, she had always found the stars and moon the most beautiful things nature possesed. Then a sound of a twig snapping made her look down, it was Takeada, moving fairly quietly, his head twisting this way and that, looking for them... or maybe looking for Akito. Then he shrugged, and stepped out into the open of the desert. He looked around, tilted his head and yelled

"Come out and fight!" The sound carried through the night clearly, and Akito strode out of the forest towards him.

"As you wish..." He said, almost sleepily. Takeada didn't reply, just threw a handful of kunai at Akito. Akito smirked and he dodged them all, Takeada was in a rage now and ran at his senpai. Their senpai looked surprised as Takeada barrelled into him Akito grabbed him and tossed him aside. He rolled along the floor, then shakily stood up,

"Got you, senpai." He smirked, Then pulled his hand back, Akito's arm was suddenly yanked forwards and he nearly fell over. Kurayami instantly knew what had happened,

Takeada was a puppet master after all, he must have attached chakra strings to Akito when he threw the kunai... or perhaps when he ran straight for him... anyway, he had done it and Akito was wobbling on his feet.

She seized her chance and leapt down from the tree, quickly covering the distance between her and Akito as she ran towards him. Then she jumped up with her leg out stretched and kicked him squarely in the back, He really did fall over then and she reached out for the bells again, she felt the smooth metal of one against her fingertips. But she was interrupted by Satoshi slamming into her from behind, making her fall and topple sideways, landing face up on the sand next to Akito, with Satoshi face down on top of her. Akito quickly got up and charged back into the forest. Kurayami was left, staring into Satoshi's brilliant blue eyes.

"Sorry." he murmured, then was jerked sharply upwards and pushed aside.

"What do you think you guys were doing?! I almost had a chance!" It was Takeada, clearly annoyed that Akito had vanished.

"Sorry, Takeada." Kurayami picked herself up, "We thought we could get the bells, but it didn't work..."

"Too right it didn't! You stupid people!" Takeada spat.

"Well Takeada, if you're so good... Why not team up with us and help us?" Satoshi said

Takeada said, with all the sweetness of a rattlesnakes bite "No. Never. There's only two bells after all, you two would just gang up on me and I wouldn't get a bell. At least alone I have a chance." Kurayami began to protest but could not finish as Takeada strode off into the woods.

"He's such a...pain." She stressed.

"Just ignore him, let's just focus on getting these bells for now..." Said Satoshi, trying to calm her down.

The two were sitting in another tree. Not really looking out this time, just hiding. The sun's light had completely disappeared now and the sky was lit up by the glow of the crescent moon and the twinkling of stars. There was no other light, apart from a very faint glow from the sand village. Kurayami was used to the darkness, welcomed it even. Because it reminded her of the dark nights in the smoke village, There was no electricity in the smoke village so the only light had been from fires, and the smoke would all rise and blot out a number of stars each night, and cast a shadow over the village during the day. That was how it was known as the smoke village. So Kurayami was used to the darkness, and had no fear of it. But Satoshi looked uncomfortable, he had probably never had reason to leave the sand village by night and was used to the glow of the city at all hours. The absolute darkness was putting him on edge. He jumped at every little sound until finally she said

"Satoshi, it's fine. Nothing's going to happen, so stop messing around."

He took a deep breath "No, you're right... I'm gonna be ok. Nothing's gonna happen."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." came a whisper from above them. They stared up and saw Akito, looking down at them from an overhead branch.

She screamed and raised a fist, smashing it into the wood and breaking the branch Akito was standing on. It collapsed and Akito fell down, only to grab another branch and swing forward, kicking her in the chest. Kurayami fell backwards

"Help!" she begged, and reached out a hand as she fell

"Kura!" yelled Satoshi, reaching for her, his fingers came within a feathers width of hers and for a moment both believed he would reach her and pull her to safety, but he missed by the slightest and she continued to fall...

"Kura!"


	7. Training (Part 2)

Training

(12 years old)

She woke up lying face up on the grass. The sun was rising and the warm rays were just beginning to highlight the surrounding area. Her head ached and her body was laced with small cuts, but miraculously she was ok... She sat up and a dull pain enveloped her, but it was bearable. Her vision was blurred so she raised her hands to rub her eyes; taking her hands away her vision was clear. She could see Satoshi and Takeada sat down nearby looking at her, Takeada observing with a cool uninterested look and Satoshi wide eyed in disbelief, down on the grass next to Satoshi, and dangling from Takeada's hand, were a bell each, she groaned, then sighed.

"Akito?"

He appeared, smiling grimly.

"So you're not dead? That's a good thing." He nodded, Kurayami stood up shakily and Akito walked up to her, she took a step back and felt the solid post behind her, and remembered she had failed, so she was now to be tied to the post. She sighed again,

"Whatever." Akito produced a long rope and wound it round her, attaching her to the post. She didn't bother fighting it, her body was sore and she wanted nothing more than to go home and rest.

"You're lucky Kurayami." She looked at him, this was the first time he had said her name.

"How so?" She asked wearily.

"When you fell you were all torn up, broken bones and gaping wounds, you landed pretty hard and blacked out." His face was emotionless.

"Nice to see you're so calm about it." She said through gritted teeth,

"Yeah, and you're also lucky with your friends. Satoshi was pretty mad once you were all messed up and went crazy at me... And somewhere in the scuffle he actually got a bell. He also went straight to your side to heal you, he only fixed your arm and leg, which were both broken. And patched up a lot of your wounds, not fully, since he had himself to attend to and didn't want to use up all his chakra, but he stayed by your side all night. Very loyal"

She felt overwhelmed; Satoshi had done that for her? She looked at him and he stared into her eyes, and smiled weakly, beautifully. She felt a sharp pang and put it down to one of the wounds on her chest.

"Thanks, Satoshi. I owe you." She said, smiling despite the pain.

"No… No problem Kura, it's what friends do for each other."

Akito stopped thier conversation.

"Right guys, I can train you all together, but your different strengths and abilities make that a little difficult. So here's what we do. I'll train you for the weekends, and that's when we will complete most of our missions. Then the weekdays will either consist of one-on-one training with me, or you can go to classes designed to help you with your skills. Satoshi in medical classes, developing his Medical Jutsu. Takeada in the library to learn more and stay smart, or in puppetry classes to master the art. And Kurayami can go to the training fields and train with me or any other willing Joinin and sharpen her battle skills. Does that sound ok?"

Kurayami nodded wearily, Satoshi said

"Yes Senpai, that's fine." And Takeada shrugged, as if he was thinking about it, then said

"Yeah, sounds good."

Akito smiled and waved his hands, as if shooing them away. "Go on then guys, back to the village."

"What about Kura? Is she coming as well?" Asked Satoshi,

"No, she didn't get a bell so she's here until sunset."

"But..." he began, and Kurayami cut him off

"Satoshi, I'll be fine. Just go off now, get some rest or train or something." She had a headache, and Satoshi's voice was beginning to hurt.

"Yeah... Ok Kura." He said, then bowed his head and began walking back towards the safety of the village, following Takeada who had left the second Akito had told them to go. Akito sat down on the ground several feet away, "You know I was expecting you out of the three of you to defiantly get a bell. I didn't think it would end up with you on the post."

"Well I was expecting you to, you know, not go completely all out on us and send us flying out of a tree from a hundred feet up." She said slowly, sarcastically. He chuckled. "Something funny?" She demanded

"No." He said, still laughing slightly

"Then why are you laughing?"

"Just because it's not funny doesn't mean it's not amusing."

She sighed, and tiredness took her over. The two stayed in silence after that and the sun slowly made its path across the sky. It was beginning to set when Akito stood, took out a kunai and slashed the ropes holding her in place, She almost fell to the ground but caught herself and tiredly started the walk towards the village, feet heavy and her legs numb. She could feel Akito watching her for a minute, then he followed her. Approaching her from behind. And suddenly, as he was right behind her, he bent and picked her up, carrying her bridal style back towards the village.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking up at him, her vision blurred with exhaustion. He kept walking,

"You're tired. And going so slowly, I'm apologising for kicking you out of the tree by carrying you home. Ok?"

"Ok." She said, too tired to argue. She was just opening her mouth to tell him where she lived, before sleep took over and she fell asleep in his arms.

She awoke the next morning on her own bed. No sign of Akito at all. Until she got up and saw a note on the table, she yawned and picked it up, it read

_Kurayami, You and the boys can have today off, so relax and get your strength back today. Meet up at the Kazekage's building tomorrow at noon for your first mission. Akito_

She shrugged and crumpled the note into a paper ball, then made a hand sign and flame licked across it, blackening the paper and turning it to ash in front of her. She smiled and walked to her balcony, opening the door and raising her fist. She opened it up and watched the ash fly out of her palm and swirl down into the village below. The faint smoky smell of it reminded her of home. It had been 6, nearly 7 years ago that she had come to the sand village. But she still felt a pang whenever something, like the smoke from a fire, or children playing ninja, just like she had with Arisa all those years ago. But she also felt happy, now she had a few more friends, in a much larger village, and her dream of becoming a strong ninja was becoming reality, piece by piece.


	8. Monster

He's Not A Monster.

(12 years old)

She was suddenly aware of her growling hunger, It consumed her stomach like fire on dry grass. It had been two days now since she last ate and she was famished. She looked around the flat for something to eat, but all there was were a pack of dry crackers and some stale bread. And all the drinks were, were water of course, and a swallow of orange juice. She sighed and picked the bread up, she carried it over to the balcony and placed it on the table outside, and broke it up in her hands. She would just leave it there for the birds, then she walked inside, drank what was left of the orange juice straight from the carton and then tossed it into the trash. Then she picked up her purse and counted the money inside... there was enough, she guessed, for a breakfast and some shopping for food. She smiled and climbed onto the balcony railing, allowing herself a moment to enjoy the whispers of breeze that tickled her cheek. Then she closed her eyes and jumped off, landing as she had many times before, and bouncing off the soft grass. She smiled and headed off towards the shops.

An hour later she was walking back to her flat with two plastic bags filled with food. Cereal, milk, juice, cookies, instant Ramen and a mix of other stuff she liked. She climbed the steps to her apartment and let herself in. She unloaded the shopping, still hungry, so she grabbed a pack of bacon and transferred three rashers to a frying pan. Then she fried them up for a few seconds on each side, and made herself a bacon sandwich. The bacon was practically raw but that was how she liked it. She hungrily tore into the sandwich and once she had finished she licked the grease off of her fingers.

"What to do now...?" She asked herself. "I'll just go out, see what's happening..." She answered herself.

So she again jumped from the balcony and hit the ground. Then set off at a walk, she found herself headed to the park, so made her way there. Arriving there, she sat herself down on a swing and began to swing, the warm sunlight on her face and the feeling of soaring through the skies made her smile a little. How she wished she could fly, somehow...

"Yami... Yami-Chan?" Came a timid voice from below her, it was Gaara.

She smiled "Gaara! How are you?"

He smiled back and climbed onto the swing next to her, "I'm alright I guess... Are you? How did your training go?"

"How did you know I went training?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

"W-well, there was a tall man carrying you through the village yesterday, I asked what he was doing and he said you were tired from training and he was taking you home."

"Ah." She said, "That was Akito, my senpai. And the training went ok... I kind of failed and got all injured, but my teammate healed most of it and I'm a pretty fast healer myself."

He grinned "That's good to know... were you bleeding?"

She frowned a little, "I guess so, but I blacked out so I never saw my serious injuries and when I woke up, I just had healed scratches, no blood."

"Oh..." He looked at the ground

"Gaara? Why did you ask?" She said, tilting her head.

"It's just that... I've never been hurt in my life..."

"What?"

"I've never felt pain. Every time I come close to hurting myself the sand protects me."

"Wow, that's got to be useful." She said

He looked up at her and said "What? It doesn't make me a monster?"

"No of course not, I think it's awesome..." She paused, "Gaara? Who calls you a monster?"

"Everybody, the other children, adults, even my father called me it at one point. He... He sent people to kill me. Told me I was a beast that needed to be destroyed."

He made a sound that seemed like he was holding back a sob, and tears flooded down his cheeks. Kurayami's guts twisted, she felt so sorry for this poor, lonely boy.

"Gaara?" She said quietly

He looked up at her with wide eyes, "Yeah?" Without a word she leapt off the swing and hugged him, he stood there with his arms held awkwardly by his sides, then went and hugged her tightly, not letting go, Her shoulder grew wet from the tears and she stroked the back of his head, whispering in his ear

"Gaara, I don't think you are a monster, and I never will. I promise to always stand by your side, no matter what."

He said, with his voice cracked and hollow

"Yami-Chan... Thank you. Thank you for everything."

"It's no problem, Gaa-Kun." She smiled, this boy was so innocent yet so powerful...If it was true and people had been sent to kill him before, that just made her more determined to protect him and serve him until he didn't need her any more. Her thoughts from earlier were probably right, if the Kazekage, Gaara's own father was scared enough of him to send people to kill him, Gaara probably had enough power to become Kazekage himself. That gave her hope, if he were Kazekage then the village would accept him more, and the other children wouldn't call him a monster, it would be ideal. She let go of Gaara once he stopped crying, changing the subject, she poked the left side of his forehead and said

"Love eh? How'd you get that?" He put a hand up and touched it for himself, then he spoke quietly, "The first person sent to kill me...was my uncle. After he had told me I wasn't a monster and that he loved me. He tried to explain pain and love to me. But then he turned on me and tried to kill me anyway... And... I had had enough, so I... I attacked him, and ended up killing him." Gaara paused and sniffled, Kurayami waited for him to finish, "And the sand, after that it just engraved the love symbol on my head. And that's how I got it"

"Why a love symbol?" She asked

"It reminds me to fight only for myself and love only myself. That everyone else is worthless."

She tilted her head, "So you'd never fight for me or love me? I'm worthless to you?"

He flinched as if he'd been struck, "We only met a few days ago, I need to know your worth before I decide to fight for you or love you." She nodded

"That makes sense."

The two stayed in the park for most of the day, talking about Gaara'a lonely past or Kurayami's life in the village. She made sure never to go into details about the smoke village though, she had been told to keep that a secret and couldn't even tell Gaara. Hours passed and it soon grew dark, the two didn't notice until they heard an owl in a nearby tree, hooting some sort of forgotten melody. Gaara gasped "It's late! I have to get home." Kurayami smiled, "then let me prove my worth to you and walk you home." he smiled

"Thanks."

"No problem, now where do you live?"

He hesitated, then took her hand and led her, "It's this way." He walked through the streets of the sand, it was surprisingly quiet apart from the odd sentry looking for dangers in and outside the village. They eventually turned up outside of a mansion cut into the rock face of the cliff surrounding the village.

"Whoa." Kurayami breathed, it had an actual lawn with flowers poking out here and there, in one corner there was a swimming pool, and the house itself, she guessed it would be the size of every single room in her apartment block. And then some.

"You live here?" She asked

"Yeah, My dad being the Kazekage and all means we get a good house. He's hardly ever in so it's mostly just me, my brother and my sister." He said slowly

"What about your mother?" She said, looking at him

"She died." Then without an answer, he walked into the massive house and left Kurayami outside.

"Oh." she said to thin air. Then she left for home.

Her way was once again blocked by Takeada. He stood in the middle of the road with his arms folded, His hair was a deep blue colour in the starlight and his eyes looked even darker.

"What do you want now?" She snapped, her patience was at an end this time.

"He killed her." Takeada said,

"What?"

"The monster, he killed his mother. She didn't just die. It was murder, the monster murdered her." He said, calmly, but still dangerously.

"He'll kill you too if you get close to him. Just walk away now, and forget all about your _master_" he sneered. "Before it's too late and you wish you had when I told you."

"Why would you care?!" she argued, "All you do is tell me he's a monster and that I shouldn't be near him! You don't even tell me what makes you think that!"

His voice softened "I care because I..." He trailed off, then said again, without making eye contact, "I have my reasons." She sighed, and didn't grace him with an answer, she just turned away and took the long way home, avoiding the blue-haired boy and his ideas Gaara was a monster.

When she got home, she grabbed a cookie for dinner, and ate that, when she was finished she changed into a black vest top and grey shorts, then climbed into bed. Sighing and murmuring to herself, "How could he be a monster? yeah maybe he killed a couple of people but it was all out of self-defence right?" He wouldn't intentionally hurt somebody that much, she believed that. So why...? Then her thoughts turned to training tomorrow, she wondered if Satoshi was ok after the bell training. And thought about what they would do it was a Sunday tomorrow, a day Akito said they would train together and complete most of thier missions. She hoped for a mission, she needed to do something besides running round throwing kunai and shuriken, and beating people to death with her strength. She soon fell into a sleep that should have been calm and undisturbed... But Wasn't.


	9. First Mission

The first Mission

(12 Years Old)

Once again Kurayami's dreams were filled with fear, it started off with Gaara, he was using his sand, destroying the village with it. The sand was also crushing people to death, their blood flowed into the sand and stained it crimson, and the screams of the dying victims sounded so real. As if it was really happening and the sounds had entered her dream. She was forced to watch it all, she couldn't block it out or wake up, it was like being tied to a chair with her eyes forced open, she had to look. After a while, Gaara collapsed and that was it, her vision faded into blackness and she hoped that would be it.

But it wasn't the end. Once again, she woke up in that total darkness, with nothing around her but the darkness. Until she heard a thud and once again, there was a mirror. She half expected, half feared what she was going to see. She looked into the polished glass and saw... Herself? reflected in the glass. She had been more prepared for it this time and didn't scream, or howl. Just observed herself wearily. Her eyes were blood red and not human, her teeth had grown and her canines were sharp, and her hands here twisted inward. And the nails grown, kind of like claws. She opened her voice and tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come, they were replaced by deep throated growls. Then to her surprise, something happened that she couldn't control. Her lips parted and no sound came out, but a strange voice formed inside her head, it said

_Come to me…_

_**What are you? **_She thought back, not answering by speaking, just thinking about what she wanted to say.

_I am you._ It answered back, almost teasingly.

_**No, you are not me. I look nothing like that.**_

_I am what is inside of you._ Then its voice became familiar, it sounded like Takeada. _A monster._

_**I'm not a monster**_! she wordlessly screamed back, then reached out for the mirror, and pushed it over. It fell, in slow motion towards the ground, and then shattered. As it broke Kurayami was plunged into darkness and didn't wake until morning.

Her eyes opened and adjusted to her surroundings, she was in her room and it was morning, she sighed and pulled herself out of bed, a little shakily. She padded to the bathroom and splashed cold water over her face to take away the red flush that had worked up in her sleep. She let herself drip-dry and checked the clock on the wall. It was 09:15 and she had to be a the Kazekages building by noon. She had enough time to not rush, she walked into the main living area and got herself a bowl of cereal, then poured cool white milk over it. She walked out onto the balcony and brushed crumbs from the table there, most of the bread she had put out yesterday was gone. She ate her breakfast in silence and when she was finished, dumped the bowl and spoon into the sink and stepped into the shower. The warm water washed over her as she rinsed out her hair, when she was clean and her light blue hair had been washed, she turned the temperature right down and used the cold shock to wake her up completely. She wrapped a towel around herself and walked out, into her bedroom. Where she put on a change of clothes, A White vest top and black shorts, and hid the knife in her normal black boots. She pulled out the bag ninja's used to carry thier weapons and strapped it on. She often didn't bother with it but she did that day, then she checked the time again. It was 10:30, she still had time to spare so she sat down and focused on drying her hair. At 11:00 she decided to start walking down, and would just allow herself time to go slowly. So she chose the stairs over the jump on the way down.

She slowly padded along the streets of the sand village, the village was just starting to come alive, the sun shining into the streets as a small crowd of people wandered, going about thier business. She reached the Kazekage's building 15 minutes later so she sat down on a low wall and waited for her team to show up. A short while later, Takeada arrived and leaned on the wall beside Kurayami, not talking to her, just there. She didn't want to talk to him anymore, every time he opened his mouth it seemed to annoy her, so she wouldn't give him a chance. Just ignore him. The stony silence continued on for a while, then the familiar shouts of "Kura!" echoed through the streets. She put on a smile and looked at the blonde haired boy who had just arrived. Takeada just sighed and looked away.

"Hiya Satoshi." She said

"Are you ok?!" He burst out. "You seemed really shaken last time I saw you."

"No." She twitched a little. "I wasn't shaken, just a little tired. Thanks for healing me when I fell, you're a good friend."

"Yeah." He echoed "A good friend..."

Before a conversation could properly start Akito strode onto the scene. "Afternoon guys." He said.

"Hi senpai." Said Satoshi, Kurayami smiled a little and said, "Afternoon." While Takeada shrugged and nodded. Akito then went on to explain,

"Right guys, this is your first day of missions and it will probably seem boring. You have only just become Genin so you will start out running errands in the village and such before you actually do any missions involving fighting or anything. Ok?"

"I'm alright with that." Said Satoshi, Takeada said "Yeah, fine." And Kurayami answered, "So long as I eventually get stronger, that's all that matters."

"Good." Said Akito, "I already went ahead and got our first mission. It's this..." He held up several important looking documents. "These are things such as trading licenses for the shops, and new timetables for the guards that watch the village. They all need to be delivered today to thier various locations, you got that?"

"Mhm, Course" Said Satoshi and Kurayami. Takeada nodded. "So." Added Akito, "We're all going to pair up for this, Kurayami and Satoshi, you take these..." He held out half of the documents

"These are for the north end of town, Me and Takeada will take the south end. Make sure to deliver them all and then meet up back here once you finish. Clear?"

Satoshi took the documents, "Yeah, leave it to us. We can do it." Then he started off at a jog, heading towards the north. Kurayami nodded and went after him. A couple of hours later and they had delivered the last of the papers and stood pleased with themselves. They walked back to the Kazekage's building to wait, and a few minutes later Akito appeared with Takeada.

"So you delivered them all ok?" Asked Akito,

"Yeah," said Satoshi. "No problem."

"Good. So now...Tomorrow is a Monday right?" He didn't wait for an answer "So meet me here again at 10:00 in the morning, then we will start with training for a few hours. Then you can go off and do your own thing, ok?"

"Sounds good." Said Kurayami, "I'm up for that" Said Satoshi, grinning. But his grin dropped as he was interrupted by his stomach growling, He hugged his stomach, "Man I'm hungry, we never got to stop for lunch." Akito looked like he almost laughed, then said, "Well then maybe you should go eat. How about the three of you go get something together? As a team, you could get to know each other a little more." Satoshi nodded rapidly and Kurayami looked over at Takeada,

"Coming?" she asked, he replied "Yeah, may as well. I haven't got a better way to waste my time." She sighed but smiled at the same time,

"Ok, so what we gonna have for dinner?"

"ooh, Ramen!" Exclaimed Satoshi, "It's my favourite food, and I haven't had it for ages!"

"Yeah ok." Said Kurayami

"Whatever." Was all Takeada said

"Then let's go!" Shouted Satoshi, and began power walking across the streets. Kurayami and Takeada headed after him.

"Closed?!" Screamed Satoshi. "WHAT?!" Takeada and Kurayami sighed. They were all at the Ramen stand but there was a 'Closed' Sign on the counter. Satoshi looked like a lost puppy, his bright eyes upset and innocent. Kurayami was annoyed by his yelling, it was so loud...

"Calm down Satoshi, It's only closed; it isn't the end of the world." Said Takeada, obviously feeling shown up by Satoshi's yelling.

"Maybe your world is fine without ramen! But it's the end of my world!" Retorted Satoshi at the top of his voice. Kurayami couldn't help thinking he was so childish, he was a year older than her but often seemed about five years old. And now here he was on the edge of throwing a tantrum at the side of the road because there was no ramen?! Foolish boy.

"Satoshi? You really want ramen that much?" She asked "If I can get it for you, will you shut up?"

"Yes!" Yelled Satoshi, drawing annoyed or curious stares from passers by. "Where is it?"

"Well I quite like it, so I have a fair amount of instant ramen at my place. Is that ok?" She asked calmly

"Yeah! I'm cool with that!" Satoshi was calmer now and she took a deep breath.

"Takeada? You coming with us or are you going to go off and sulk by yourself?"

"...I'll come. Akito said we should eat together today, so fine. I'm in."

She smiled, though he didn't return it. Then set off in the direction of her home

"It's this way..."

The two boys followed her along, mostly in silence aside from the calls of "Ramen" From Satoshi and then Takeada telling him to shut up.

"Here we are." She said, standing at the foot of the flats.

"Wow! It's huge!" said Satoshi, "Are you rich?!" Takeada snorted and Kurayami sighed

"No, Satoshi, it's a flat, I only own a couple of rooms."

"Oh." He said.

"Foolish boy." Said Takeada

She ignored then both and climbed the stairs to her flat, taking out her key and opening the door. She walked in and held it open for the others two. Once they were inside she asked,

"So I know Satoshi wants ramen, but since we are here, does anyone else want anything?"

"No." Said Takeada "Nah, I'm fine with my ramen." Said Satoshi.

"Ok, sure." She went into the small kitchen and pulled out three instant Ramen cups. She set the water to boil and went to the fridge, opening it. She took out various drinks and three glasses. Then

walked out to ask Satoshi and Takeada what they wanted to drink. Satoshi was in the living room, fidgeting on the sofa

"Satoshi, what do you want to drink?" She asked.

"Ummm... Just water is fine." He said with a dumb smile.

"Ok, easy enough. Any idea where Takeada is?" He pointed towards the balcony and said,

"Over there." She nodded and went out to the balcony. Takeada was standing there, looking out over the village.

"It's a beautiful view." He said without turning around. "You're lucky to have it." she walked up beside him and looked down.

"Thanks, I know." He turned slightly towards her and there was the faintest trace of a smile on his lips.

"Did you want something?" he asked

"Oh, um...I wanted to know what you wanted to drink." she said

"I see." He paused, "Well what have you got?"

"umm, Water, Orange juice, Milk, Tea. The normal kind and mint tea. And I think that's it."

"Oh, well. I'll have tea then, if that isn't too much trouble?" He said.

"No problem." She said, then turned and walked away

"Three sugars!" He called after her and she smiled. Then went into the kitchen, the kettle had finished boiling so she poured the hot water into the ramen cups, then Some into a mug. Added a teabag and three sugars, shoveling the granules into the mug. Then went and poured a glass of water for Satoshi, and Orange juice for herself. She carried the drinks out to the table and set them down.

"Ok, It's ready." She called. Then went back into the kitchen and picked up the ramen cups. She carried them to the table and saw Takeada and Satoshi sitting there, at opposite ends. She realised this was the first time she had shared a meal with other people at her table. And it made her smile. She dumped the ramen in front of The boys and took a seat between them, Satoshi grabbed his chopsticks and pulled the tab on his ramen cup quickly, too quickly... The steam gushed out, red hot, and he yanked his hand back.

"Oww! Hot Hot Hot!" He exlaimed. Takeada smirked and said

"Serves you right, fool." And then proceeded to slowly peel back the lid on his own ramen, the steam flowed out but harmlessly spiralled upwards. Kurayami opened her own and picked up the chopsticks, starting to eat the hot food. Once Satoshi had recovered from his shock he dived in and ate quickly, greedily, once Takeada's had cooled down after a little waiting he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat, carefully.

A few minutes later the three had all finished thier food. Kurayami leaned back in her chair and picked up the empty ramen cup. Then threw it through the air, It sailed straight into the bin, perfectly aimed, she had had loads of practice at this. Satoshi grinned like a child and hurled his Ramen pot, it clattered off the edge of the bin a couple of times, then fell inwards. With less style than Kurayami had done it. Then Takeada picked up his ramen cup, and seemed to be toying with the idea of throwing it, then he shrugged and tossed it towards the bin, too hard. It sailed over the bin and Takeada cursed, but before the cup hit the ground He jerked his hand back, and a thin blue line appeared on his finger, attached to the cup. A chakra thread! He pulled it back and the cup arched backwards into the bin. A small smile played across his lips

"As if I would miss." He said

"Wow! thats so cool! Teach me!" Said Satoshi. Takeada stared at him in disbelief

"No, It's the puppet master jutsu, Learn it from someone else." Then he added with a sneer "But if I were as pathetic as you then I'd just stick to my healing stuff."

Satoshi was riled, but chose to let the barbed comment slide, "I was only joking."

Takeada muttered, "As usual..." Then stood up, "Thank you Kurayami, for the food and such. I guess it was more interesting than most of my evenings. But I must be going now. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, goodbye." She said. He walked out and down the stairs, heading for his home. Satoshi looked across at her

"I guess I may as well go home now. Don't want to be a bother. Thanks for the food!" He grinned and held his hand up, giving her a thumbs up sign. Then said "Bye! See you tomorrow Kura-Chan!" then he left and Kurayami was alone once again. She gathered up the cups and washed them up, putting them away. She walked out onto the balcony and sat back in the chair there, the sun was setting and warmed her skin. And she fell asleep with a content smile on her lips.

Her dreams once again were strange. She almost expected them at this point, she woke up in the total darkness again, exept for the mirror ahead of her. She looked into it and saw again the strange version of herself, with long canines and nails, Red wolve's eyes and a sharp aura that seemed to be coming from her. She tried once more to speak, but all that came out was growls. At this point, It no longer scared her, just made her feel a little uneasy. Like a child that was avoiding punishment, but knew it was going to come sooner or later. The version of her this time looked more wild than it had previously, like it was lusting after something it could not reach.

_**What do you want?**_ She asked, the words forming in her head.

_I do not want, I need_. The voice replied in her head, once again sounding like Takeada. Only more tortured, more painful.

_**Well what do you need?**_ She pleaded desperately _**Please tell me.**_

_Let me show you. I know you need it too. Set me free and I will show you what you desire_. The voice said, it was so tempting,

_Place your hand on the glass and open up your chakra to me._ It asked, no, demanded.

_**What will happen?**_ she asked, a little worried, yet a little curious at what this...beast was offering her.

_Satisfaction, and peace._ came the voice. _Just place your palm on the glass and trust me._

Kurayami hesitated, then thought, _**What's the worst that could happen? **_And placed her palm on the glass, the reflection followed and the two appeared joined, then the fingers of the reflection actually came through the glass, taking its hand in hers. And gripping it tightly.

_yes... _It growled, _Yesss..._

Then the blackness around Kurayami throbbed and split apart, painting her surroundings with vast white streaks, which then all blurred into a deep red colour and consumed Kurayami. She woke up on her balcony, in a cold sweat. It was the middle of the night and an icy breeze whipped at her skin, making her shiver. She got up and silently moved inside, shaken by the strange turnings the dream had taken, she walked into her bathroom and splashed her face with cold water. When she was finished, she looked up into the mirror. And Screamed. The scream twisted in her throat and became a savage howl. Her face was still the same! Long teeth and red eyes that would have looked more in place on a wild, savage animal. She howled again and looked down at her hands, they were twisting inwards and the nails were growing into...into...claws. She looked back at the mirror and immediately the voice formed in her head

_This is just part of what you want. Trust me. It will be ok._ She couldn't believe it. She was scared, more scared than she had ever been. This was her worst enemy, at least with everything else she could argue or fight back. With this she could do nothing, no idea how to free herself of it.

_Do not resist me and I will not harm you_. Said the voice.

_**NO!**_ She screamed, over and over in her head _**NO!**_ Then there was a sharp pain drilling into her brain, it felt like an icicle spearing her mind. It hurt so much.

_YOU WILL NOT RESIST!_ Screamed the voice, and against her will, her hand raised flat, its fingers spread out, palm facing the mirror. Then some unstoppable force made her palm slam straight into the mirror. The glass shattered and a large piece lodged in her delicate skin, she howled and withdrew her hand, suddenly in control again. She yanked the shard of glass out, tearing her skin in the process. A huge amount of blood welled up and streamed out of her hand, and she couldn't look away. Then the pain in her head eased and was replaced with the voice, now dangerously quiet.

_You are weak. Drink._ It ordered,

_**No! I can't**_ She screamed back. Only to be answered back with the ripping pain in her head again, it tore through her head and seemed to fry every nerve in her brain. It seemed to last forever...

Forever. But what was probably moments later, it subsided.

_Do as I say_ the voice said again. _Drink it._ Kurayami could feel her resistance crumbling, she couldn't hold out any more. So with much regret, she raised her palm to her lips and drank. The blood flowed easily down her throat and she gulped it in. Then it hit her, This was like what she used to drink! When she was a child... what her mother had given her. A watered down drink using a dark red, almost black liquid. Had her mother...Had her mother given her blood? The taste was metallic, but she found the more she drank, the more she craved it.

_**This must be what addiction is**_ _**like**_ She thought to herself. What seemed years later, the voice commanded

_Stop, this is enough_ Then she, with surprising reluctance, took her hand away and wiped a few tears of blood off her chin.

_I need more, but you are still weak. I am satisfied for now. I will take my leave._ Then her head seemed to clear and a heavy weight felt like it was being removed. The only thing that remained was an echo of the voice

_For now..._ Then it died down and all was quiet. Kurayami washed her face again, ridding it of the blood. Then looked back at the mirror, straight into a pair of blue grey eyes. Her eyes.

She was back to normal.

_For now..._


	10. Lost

Gaara Loses It

(12 years old)

Kurayami walked into the park and sat down at the swings again. Just sitting there, her heart wasn't really in it. A few minutes of patiently waiting later, her swing was pushed and she began to swing from the force of it. Who was it? pushing the swing with her on as if she were a child? She turned, curious, and there was Gaara. Smiling, his sand had formed two hands behind her that pushed her.

She smiled "Hi Gaara." He stopped the hands and they fell apart, then he pulled himself into the swing next to her.

"Hiya Yami-chan. How are you?"

"Um…well, Gaara?" she said, "I need to tell you about something... Is that ok?"

He nodded "Sure! Go ahead." She went on to explain about the previous nights, the dreams of the monster in the mirror. And then how it had talked, and somehow come out of her dream. How it had controlled her and made her drink her own blood. She told Gaara everything. How she was a monster.

"Oh... I see." Gaara said quietly, "So now you think there's something wrong with you?"

She sighed "Yeah, some...Monster. Or something. It scared me...I had to tell someone."

"And you chose to tell me?" He said, his voice lost a little of its warmth

She looked him in the eye and nodded.

"Why tell me? Out of all the people in the village you know...Why me?"

"Well, I have no family to tell. I don't know if I trust my squad leader enough...Or one of my teamates. And the other teamate is a bit stupid sometimes, he wouldn't understand. Probably get carried away. Plus I figured you would understand." She explained, almost unsure of herself.

"Why would I understand if you think you're a monster. You think I am as well?" He said, his voice tainted with hurt and accusation.

"No, I just thought you were the most likely to take this seriously! I don't think you are a monster!" She was surprised by the amount of desperation in her voice. Gaara stared at her, the sand behind him started to twist and rise up from the ground.

"You think I am a monster... You're no different to anyone else in this village Yami!" His voice carried anger, Kurayami could sense she was losing him. He continued "I thought I'd found someone I could trust, someone I cared about! But I was wrong! You're like everyone else! I hate you!" Kurayami opened her mouth to argue, but then she froze in shock, Gaara's eyes had turned red... He looked like he had in her dream. When he had attacked her. Then, as if replaying itself he cried

"I hate you Yami-Chan!" And reached out a hand towards her. The waves of sand pulsed and surrounded her, closing in and trapping her in its embrace. She opened her mouth to beg for help, then closed it. She didn't beg, she was too proud for that. The sand crept up her body until it finally reached her head. She held her head high, determined not to cry, then she shut her eyes. The last thing she saw was Gaara's face, streaked with tears. Then the blackness consumed her. She thought

_I'm going to die like this? Without any proof or meaning behind my existence? I'll be forgotten...Gaara...I'm sorry. Sorry I couldn't...Help...You._

Then her thoughts died out and she surrendered herself to the darkness.

She somehow opened her eyes, to darkness again. Then she saw the mirror, 'So...' she thought. 'I get one last dream before I die.'

She sighed and walked to the mirror, greeted again by the wolfen self in the glass.

'Did you want something? I'm nearly dead, so make it quick.' She found herself asking the mirror. The words coming together in her thoughts.

The other her growled, showing long fangs, then said

_He betrayed you...Tried to kill you- _

She cut it off. 'No, He did kill me. The End.'

The voice let out a ghastly, cracked laugh

_You're not that lucky. You aren't dead yet._

'What?!' She cried. 'I'm not?' Then she smiled, relieved. Then her face dropped, 'But he almost killed me then...'

The voice sneered at her,

_Then release my power. Show him what you can do... Place your palm...On the glass...You did it once, you can do it again._

She folded her hands behind her back. 'No, I won't betray my friend.'

_Hah! friend..._

She continued on 'What's in it for you then? If I let you go.'

It chuckled again

_Blood. My hunger when I drank yours was not sated. And if I take too much of yours. I will die, since I am a part of you. So I need others blood. I hunger for the child's sweet crimson life force. That is what is in it for me...And don't pretend it is any different for you. I know you lust for blood. The drinking of your own has held me back this long...but if I don't get enough then you will weaken, lose control of me. And I will come to the surface, I will take over your pathetic little village. And I will kill all..._

She gasped, her breath caught in her throat

The voice carried on,

_So choose between sacrificing the red haired boy...The monster. Or sacrificing the whole village just to honour a friendship. _

It snarled. Kurayami looked at the reflection, was it speaking the truth? would she lose control...and destroy the village? she couldn't... she wouldn't... But this voice seemed so sure of it. So sure that she would be the downfall of the village.

_So? will you do it? release me?_

She stiffened, her head bowed. Then she lifted it and looked her reflection straight in the eye.

'Go to hell.' She said calmly. Then she summoned her strength and hit the mirror, smashing it and leaving ugly cracks across the once smooth surface. As she had before, she slipped into the darkness. And the last thing she heard was the voice...

_I'll only be back to haunt your next dream..._

Then everything faded.


	11. Stay Away

Stay Away

She slowly opened her eyes...And a familiar room swam into focus. She was lying in her bedroom, on her bed. Her right arm was held in place with a cast, and bandages swathed her body. Her head was also wrapped in bandages and everywhere hurt with a dull pain. She tried to sit up, but it hurt too much and she winced.

"Awake now huh?" came a voice, which was also familiar. "That's good." She turned her head and saw Akito, he had pulled up a chair and was sitting alongside her bed.

"What...What happened to me?" She murmured, knowing what, but somehow dreading the answer.

"It was the Kazekage's son, Gaara. He attacked you for some reason, knocked you out. Almost killed you."

"Oh..." she said. He folded his arms and asked

"Why?"

She was confused "Why what?"

"Why didn't Gaara kill you? Every single person he has attacked like that before has been killed by him. But he only knocked you out, and what's more, he came running to find me. Crying and begging for help. He even seemed to...care about you. Why?"

She shuffled around nervously, not wanting to meet Akito' eye. "We were...Are, Friends."

"Well how did you meet him?"

"uh...I saw him using his powers, and thought he was strong. I got talking to him and befriended him."

He pressed on, "But why did he turn on you?"

"He was so upset at being a monster, I told him he wasn't and all seemed ok... But then something I said made him think I was calling him a monster. He took it the wrong way and tried to kill me."

Akito sighed, "What did you say to him?"

Kurayami flinched, then knew she couldn't keep it a secret forever. She told him everything.

After a while, she was done explaining and listened to his response.

"Hmm... I expected as much. I had hoped this wouldn't happen..."

"What senpai? What wouldn't happen?"

Akito frowned "I know who you are Kurayami. You originally come from the smoke village, you were brought here and left by your mother several years ago. Weren't you?"

Her eyes widened "How do you know that?" She accused "That was supposed to be a secret!" He smiled tiredly,

"Someone had to find you that night. Someone had to find you and read that letter. Someone had to take you to the Kazekage. And I ended up being that someone."

"What?..." She gasped "You mean you..."

He nodded "Aye. I was just finishing my first mission as a jounin and on my way to the Kazekage's building when I saw a young girl alone. I thought you were lost until you gave me that letter. I read it and well... I took you to the Kazekage. You know the rest."

"Oh..." She quietened...then, "But what were you hoping wouldn't happen? What did the letter say?"

Akito frowned, "I am afraid that is a secret, the Kazekage forbade me, or anyone to speak of it. Apparently the information would be the downfall of the village. And you would have to be imprisoned, contained. For the safety of the village." He paused, and when he got no answer he continued on, "I guess he felt sorry for you. He told whoever he had to and got your story covered up, then he took the letter and hid it. And banned us from telling anyone, used a special jutsu to erase memories on the less trustworthy people who might tell..."

She cut in "Why not you? You can't have been too important in the cover up, why were you allowed to keep your memories?"

He smirked then, "I said it might have been the Kazekage feeling sorry for you, but it could have been more than just pity. You are also capable of being stronger than the Kazekage. If you trained to be a ninja, then you could become an excellent tool for the village to use and fight with. So it was planned out that you would train to be a ninja, and when you became a genin, I would be your squad leader."

"So you're saying that all I am to this village is a weapon? And this has been planned out... What? What am I? Akito. Tell me."

He sighed "I cannot." and somehow, Kurayami sensed that he wouldn't tell her, no matter what.

She decided to change the subject a little, "And Gaara? Why is he so upset at being called monster? Why is he called that?"

Akito looked at her and met her gaze, then said quietly "He is almost like you... He has the same potential at becoming Kazekage. But he has something, different about him."

"And? What could he possibly have that is different to me?" She pressed on

"Gaara has a demon inside of him." Akito said loudly.

"What?!"

"You heard me. When he was born a demon was infused with his body, his life was also planned out like yours, that he would become a weapon for protecting the village. But the Kazekage had second thoughts and thought Gaara was too dangerous to be allowed to live. He sent trained assassins to kill Gaara, but none could. Gaara was able to kill them all easily. And somewhere along the line he earned the title Monster."

She stared at the ceiling in shock. And didn't make another sound.

Akito stood up and said "And one more thing. What makes you so strong...I cannot go into details, but it is a curse passed down through your family. In exchange for immense power and abilities which come with the curse, you must offer up blood. In other words, drink blood. Usually the blood of an enemy you kill or attack. But if need be you can give it your own blood, not as effective but it works."

She still didn't reply, just lay there taking it all in. Akito finally said "You learned a lot today, just stay there and get some rest. Take tomorrow off missions, if you are feeling up to it then meet me the day after tomorrow at the Kazekage's building, noon."

She nodded and closed her eyes.

"Goodbye." He said, then left.

Kurayami sighed, and drifted off into a sleep. Which came as a blessing, because her dreams were not haunted by that character. She slept and instead dreamt of the times she had spent with Gaara up till now, until it cut off as she had met him that day. And she drifted into darkness.

She woke up, it was late morning and the sun was already high in the sky, She sat up and rubbed her eyes, checking her clock. It was 11:00 in the morning. Kurayami yawned and got out of bed, Changing into black shorts and a grey vest top, she attached her kunai pouch to the top of her leg. She left her bedroom and went into the living area, on the table was a flask, with a note underneath it. She picked up the note, it read:

_Kurayami, I told you a lot last night, and I told you about the curse needing blood to control it. Well in the flask is just that. Drink a little with whatever every time you get those dreams and you should be fine. Tell me when you need more and I shall get it for you._

She crinkled her nose and shuddered, he had left a flask of blood for her...But if what he said was true, she needed it. She picked up the flask, flinching as she carried it over to the cupboards and placing it there. She wiped her hands then got a bowl of cereal. After her breakfast she walked to the balcony, climbed up onto the railing and looked out. Then she closed her eyes and spread out her arms like a pair of wings, she took a deep breath and fell forward off the edge. She landed gracefully at the bottom, and it was then that she realised she didn't have training today. She sighed, she needed something to do... anything. So she set off in the direction of the training fields, she could just train by herself for a while...

A few hours later and she was still there. She just needed to take her mind off of everything, she was panting slightly and sweat ran in rivulets down her body. Tired after all the work. It was getting late and she was hungry, so Kurayami decided to get something to eat, then go home. She walked through the streets of the sand village and soon ended up at a small food stand. It wasn't anywhere she had been before, but she didn't really care. She ordered her favourite, hanami dango, and sat down to wait. The food arrived, but before she could start eating, there was a voice from beside her

"Kurayami." It was cold and emotionless. She turned and saw Gaara, standing there with his arms folded. She tensed up, then relaxed,

"Gaara! Hi." He sat beside her and stared straight ahead

"Kurayami...about yesterday..." she smiled,

"It doesn't matter Gaara. I'm ok." He carried on,

"I think you should just stay away from me from now on."

"What? Why?!" she asked,

"Because you are the closest to a friend I have ever had, and I don't want to hurt you. So just, don't come near me, ok?"

"But Gaara, you wouldn't hurt me again would you? We can still be friends!"

He shook his head and stood up,

"Just... Don't talk to me any more than you have to. Please." Then he turned his back on her and began walking out.

She sat on her seat, upset, but she didn't cry. She never cried.

"I'll still look up to you Gaara. I always will." He paused and seemed to be about to say something, but then he continued on his way and left her there. She stared after him, and watched him walk away into the darkening village. She wanted to say something more, but she had never been blessed with the gift of words, and it failed her now as well.

She finished her dango in silence and walked home slowly, taking her time until she reached her door. She let herself in and merely went through the motions of living, she washed, changed and tumbled into bed as if on autopilot. And she fell asleep without much trying, and didn't dream at all that night.


End file.
